Card for indexes.



J. A. BEST.

CARD FOR INDEXES.

APPLlcATloN F1150 0150.11.1917.

ing my invention and forming a part of thisl JOHN AUSTIN BEST, 0F AUGUSTA, GEORGIA.

, CARD FOR INDEXES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 1'?, 1918.

Application filed December 6, 1917. Serial No. 205,758.

To all whom z't may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN AUsTiNvBEsT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Augusta, in the county of Richmond and State of Georgia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cards for Indexes, of which the following is a specification. My present invention relates generally to indexes, and more particularly to card indexes, my object being the provision of a card for such indexes, adaptable as either a sub-index card or a record card, and whereby a system indexed by means of the usual tabbed index or guide cards for instance, niay he expanded and further indexed to two additional letters throughout,v

either as to letters of surnames, initials, or the like.

A further object is to accomplish the above by means of cards of the same construction, whose arrangement permit of their use at any desired point within' an index.

Generally speaking, my invention resides in an index card having the letters of two alphabets along its upper edge, so arrange in respect to one another and the card that by cutting portions of the two series away, the user may expose any two letters of the alphabet desired at the outermost edges, and with cuts of but a single and the same depth,

so as to adapt the card for use Aas a sub# index card where it is necessary for the letters to show between the upper edges of the reference cards and; the? tabs of the mainl index or guide cards.

A still further ob]ect of my invention is letters of the two nalphabetical series.

In the accompanying drawings illustratspecification,

Figure 1 is a face view of an index card constructed in accordance with my invention previous to the cutting thereof for indexing purposes.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a card after` it is cut for indexing purposes andready for use, and

Fig. 3 is a similar view of another card in jthe nature of a sub-index card for instance,

after the latter has been out, the cut portions being indicated in broken lines.

Referring now to these figures and particularly to Fig. 1, my invention proposes a card 10 of rectangular shape and the body portion of which is of the same size as the record card in connection with which the card 10 is utilized, the card as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, being particularly adapted as a sub-index card, between the usual single letter tabbed index or guide cards.

When so intended for use, the card 10 has an extended strip 11 along its upper edge above aline 12, which latter defines the height of the record cards in connection with which the card 10 is to be utilized,

the strip 11 being blocked of as shown, to facilitate cutting between-the letters of the two series 13 and 14 which it will be noticed areboth Aabove the horizontal line 12 and thus in the same horizontal plane.

Each of the series of letters 13 and 14 forms a complete alphabet of which the initial letter is adjacent to the center of the card 10, each alphabet progressing regularly toward one of the side edges of the card;

' By thus providing the card 10 with an extenslon str1 l11 on which the two alphabets are dispose and arranging these alphabets d .in respect to the card and to one another as described, it is obviously convenient to adapt the card 10 for use as a subindex card between the main tabbed guide cardsland the record cards, and that desired letters of both of the series 13 and 14 may be exposed at the sides by removal of portions of the two series through vertical cuts extending to the line 12 and horizontal cuts along said line for portions of its length.

Thus, as seen inFig. 1, the two series 13 and 14 are fullyexposed between the upper edgesof the ide cards (not shown).and the tabs of guide cards, one of which is seen in dotted lines at 15.

Furthermore, where it is desired -to index as to the second and third letters of dex the surname seen in Fig. 1 in accordance with this'rule, the series 13 is cut on the line -the surname and whereiitvis desired to inas indicated in the figure, and that portion vsus of the series 14 is removed up to the letter D, so that the second and third letters of the surname a and d will be respectively exposed at the left and right-hand edges of the letter series, with cuts of the samev depth so that both of these-letters beingin the same horizontal plane, will be exposed to the view of the operator between the tabs 15 of the guide cards and the upper edges of Ithe record cards, which latter as before stated, coincide with the line 12.

It is obvious that myinvention as thus described is equally adaptable for utilization in the form of card 16 such as seen in Fig. 3, the series of letters being in the same arrangement atthe upper edge thereof as in connection with the card 10 of Figs. 1 and 2, and that in addition thereto and in order to facilitate the cutting to expose desired letters of the two series, the card 16 may be I provided with slots 17 extending inwardly from its side edges in the same horizontal plane below the plane of the two series of letters, the inner ends of which slots terminate at opposite sides of the center of the card, whereby any desired letters may be eX- posed in the two series, each with but a single vertical cut from the upper edge of the card to the respective'slots 17.

It is obvious that in View of the foregoing, my invention proposes a card of but a single construction in eitheruse, so that a series of cards 10 or a series of cards 16 will place the user in possession of means where'- by to expand a card index throughout each of its divisions, not only as to letters of the surname as in Figs. 1 and 2, but also as to initials and the like, as suggested bythe arrangement of Fig. 3.

I claim:

1. A card of the character described for indexes, having series of letters along its upper edge portion, forming two separate alphabets in the same horizontal plane, each of said alphabets having its initial letter adjacent to the center of the card and progressing regularly toward one of the side edges of the card, whereby desired lettersV of both alphabets may be reached by cuts of the same depth and from opposite sides of the card, the said card having slots extending inwardly from its side edges in the same horizontal plane, below the plane of the said letters, and terminating at opposite sides of the center of the card, for the purpose described.

2. A card of the` character described for indexes, having two series of index letters along its upper edge and forming two separate alphabets progressing from their first to last letters in relatively opposite directions and toward the side vedges of the card, said card having separate Vslots extending `be-V neat-li the two series of letters from its side edges, whereby portions of each alphabet may be removed by a single vertical cut to one of the said slots.

JOHN AUsTiN BEST. Witnesses:

R. A. TooLE, W. H. VINCENT. 

